In traditional Ashkenazi siddurim, you'll find this instruction, right before Sh'ma Yisrael: "when praying in private, add 'El Melekh Ne'eman.'" Is this a big deal? Well, when you say "El Melekh Ne'eman" you're adding material to k'ri'at Sh'ma (the recitation of Sh'ma and its accompanying b'rakhot), without any authorization in the classical sources, and the halakhah has a big problem with that. It shouldn't be there... but it is! And that fact tells us something about the capacity of Jewish law to change, to accommodate itself to the needs of those who pray. So yes, it is ​a big deal!

Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

We all know that a minyan, the quorum needed for communal prayer (t'filah b'tzibur), is composed of a minimum of ten adults. Children, who have no obligation (yet) to fulfill mitzvot, don't count in a minyan. But already in Talmudic times and through the Middle Ages, some rabbis wanted to include a child in a minyan, at least as the tenth person alongside nine adults. In this installment, we take a brief look at their arguments and at what they might teach us about the value of "inclusion."

In our last installment, we saw that Rabbi Moshe Feinstein ruled that Reform weddings do not create halakhically valid marriages. In this installment, we'll see that another leading American Orthodox posek, Rabbi Yosef Eliyahu Henkin, rejects Feinstein's decision in no uncertain terms. Not, to be sure, because he thinks highly of Reform Judaism, but because he tells a very different story about the Jewish community of his time. It makes one think about the role of storytelling in halakhic decision.

Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast .

In this installment we consider the (in)famous decision of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, the preeminent 20th-century Orthodox posek in North America, concerning Reform Jewish weddings. Spoiler alert #1: he thinks that they do not produce valid Jewish marriages according to halakhah. Spoiler alert #2: his ruling served a purpose that all of us progressive types can support, even if what he says about us is vituperative and insulting. As we like to say in the halakhah ​business: it's complicated. Which is why it's so interesting.

​

Two Jews walk into a church (stop us if you've heard this one!). They get married there, in a Christian ritual, with a priest as the officiant. Does halakhah recognize this marriage as valid under Jewish law? Some rather serious consequences ride on the answer to this question. In this installment, we consider the answer offered by a leading sage of the 15th century.

Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast

We hear much these days about "the death of expertise," a growing tendency to ignore and cast suspicion upon the counsel of physicians, scientists, economists - trained experts of every sort. Why is this? Is it because we're too dumb to listen to people who know better? Well, maybe! But that's only a partial answer, because the experts may bear their share of the responsibility, too. The halakhah instructs us to heed the counsel of the expert (the baki, the mumcheh) in their area of expertise, but it knows that despite their expertise – or sometimes even because of it - experts run into problems. Maybe the halakhic discussion can shed light on the problems faced by today’s experts.

Get the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

We liberal Jews are quite familiar with the b'rakhah known as "Shehechiyanu." It's our all-purpose blessing of thanksgiving. We recite it all the time, over almost every conceivable moment of personal and communal celebration. In fact, though, the tradition knows of (at least) three b'rakhot of thanksgiving, each one to be recited at specific moments over specific things and under specific conditions. This doesn't mean we need to stop saying Shehechiyanu at the drop of a hat - er, kipah - but it's not a bad idea to keep the other b'rakhot in mind.

Download the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.

In this installment, we look at a t'shuvah (responsum) from 1948 by a leading Orthodox posek on the question of draft exemptions for Torah students. We doubt that his opinion would be popular among today's chareidim. Not surprisingly, we find his reasoning impeccable.

Get the source sheet at www.freehofinstitute.org/podcast.